Cycling the Earth: A Life-Changing Race Around the World

Sean Conway was stuck in a dead end life of his own making when he heard about a round-the-world cycling race. He was immediately inspired - but it was a huge undertaking, and he'd hardly been on a bike in years. Could he really cycle all the way round the world, solo and unsupported? Six months later, after completing a punishing training schedule and packing up everything he owned into boxes, Sean was in Greenwich Park, on the start line of the adventure of a lifetime.

The Climb: The Autobiography

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of the revealing, inspirational memoir from the British winner of the Tour de France. The Climb tells the extraordinary story of Chris Froome's journey from a young boy in Kenya, riding through townships and past wild animals, and with few opportunities for an aspiring cyclist, to his unforgettable yellow jersey victory in the 2013 Tour de France.

The Art of Cycling

The autobiography of a cycling legend that will become a much-loved classic. The much-anticipated autobiography of the greatest Australian cyclist of all time. Famous in the sport for his meticulous preparation and an athlete who prided himself on his ability to leave it all on the road, Evans writes about the triumphs, the frustrations, the training, the preparation, the psychology of the sport, his contemporaries, the legends and his enduring love of cycling. A riveting and forensic account of his life on the bike....

Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro

Plump, grumpy, slumped on the couch, and going nowhere fast at age 16, Phil Gaimon began riding a bicycle with the grand ambition of shedding a few pounds before going off to college. He soon fell into racing and discovered he was a natural, riding his way into a pro contract after just one season despite utter ignorance of a century of cycling etiquette. Now, in his book Pro Cycling on $10 a Day, Phil brings the full powers of his wit to tell his story.

The World of Cycling According to G

Sit back or saddle up as double Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion Geraint Thomas gives you a warts-and-all insight into the life of a pro cyclist. Along the way he reveals cycling's clandestine codes and secret stories; tales from the peloton; the key characters like Wiggins, Hoy and Cav; the pivotal races; and essential etiquette. Geraint Thomas is treasured for treating his sport just as the rest of us see it: not as a job but as an escape and an adventure.

For professional cyclists, going faster and winning are, of course, closely related. Yet surprisingly, for many, a desire to go faster is much more important than a desire to win. Someone who wants to go faster will work at the details and take small steps rather than focusing on winning. Winning just happens when you do everything right - it's the doing everything right that's hard. And that's what fascinates and obsesses Michael Hutchinson.

The Racer: Life on the Road as a Pro Cyclist

What is it really like to be a racer? What is it like to be swept along at 60kmh in the middle of the pack? How does it feel to be reeled in from a solo breakaway metres from the line? What happens to the body during a high-speed chute? What tactics must teams employ to win the day, the jersey, the grand tour? How does a domestique keep going to the end of a stage once his job is done and his body exhausted?

On the Road Bike

Ned Boulting has noticed something. It's to do with bikes. They're everywhere. And so are their riders. Some of these riders seem to be sporting sideburns and a few of them are winning things. Big things. Now Ned wants to know how on earth it came to this. And what, exactly is 'this'. In On the Road Bike, Ned Boulting asks how Britain became so obsessed with cycling. Ned's search puts him in contact with some of the wonderful and wonderfully idiosyncratic people who have contributed to this nation's two-wheeled history.

J. Singfield says:"Interesting & entertaining take on British Cycling"

Shut up Legs!: My Wild Ride on and off the Bike

Even by the standards of a sport that requires enormous stamina and capacity for suffering, Jens Voigt is in a class on his own. Beloved by cycling fans for his madcap one-man breakaways as much as his sense of humour and quotable catchphrases, Jens is one of the most popular personalities in cycling. Jens was born near Hamburg and came up through the East German system before the Wall came down. He got into the national team through the German army before signing for his first big team.

At Speed

Mark Cavendish is the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France's green jersey, the first to wear the iconic rainbow jersey in almost 50 years and our only ever rider to capture the Giro d'Italia points title. He is the most prolific sprinter in the Tour's history, and - according to L'Equipe - the best sprinter of all time. But smashing records and racking up victories means whole new levels of fame: and this has come at a price. Living in the goldfish bowl, he has come under fire for his bombastic riding style and been portrayed as everything from an outlaw to a psychopath.

Mud, Sweat and Gears: Cycling From Land's End to John O'Groats (via the Pub)

As Ellie's 50th birthday approaches and her ambitions of a steady income, a successful career and an ascent of Everest seem as far away as ever, she begins to doubt she's capable of achieving anything at all. So when her best friend Mick suggests a gruelling cycle ride from Land's End to John o'Groats, she takes up the challenge. They opt for the scenic route which takes them along cycle paths, towpaths and the back roads and byways of Britain, unable to resist sampling beers in the pubs they pass along the way.

Triumphs and Turbulence: My Autobiography

In 2001, when the bible of the sport, Cycling Weekly, ran a poll to decide the greatest British cyclist, Chris Boardman's was the name that topped the list. It was Boardman's lone achievements in the '80s and '90s - Olympic track gold, the world hour record, repeatedly claiming the yellow jersey in the Tour de France - that lit the spark for modern British cycling. His endeavours both on and off the bike have made him the founding father of current golden generation - without him there would simply be no Hoy, Wiggins or Cavendish.

My Time

On 22 July 2012 Bradley Wiggins became the first British man ever to win the Tour de France. In an instant, 'Wiggo' became a national hero. Ten days later, having swapped his yellow jersey for the colours of Team GB, he won Olympic gold in the time trial, adding to his previous six medals to become the nation's most decorated Olympian of all time. Outspoken, honest, intelligent and fearless, Wiggins has been hailed as the people's champion.

Steadfast: My Story

An intense and inspiring story of sporting triumph, from World, Commonwealth and National racing champion and Olympic silver medalist Lizzie Armitstead. On the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games, the biggest moment of her life, Lizzie Armitstead's career was throw n into turmoil. After being cleared to ride the Games at the final hour following a successful court appeal to overturn an alleged missed drugs test, the ensuing leak and backlash threatened to engulf her.

Tour de France

In this updated edition of the highly acclaimed Tour de France, Graeme Fife sets the 2012 race in the context of the event's remarkable history, stretching back to July 1903. Combining meticulous research with a pacy narrative style, he penetrates the mystique of the race and paints a colourful picture of the men whose exploits have given the Tour an enduring universal appeal. Moreover, the book now celebrates a truly historic event: The 99th edition of the race was won, for the first time, by a Briton.

Despite the howling protests from his peers, no one's ever been more willing to spill the beans on what it's really like inside the pro cycling peloton than the sarcastic scribe Phil Gaimon. Building on the outrageous success of his hilarious 2014 debut, Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro, Gaimon gathers the absolute gems from his monthly Q & A feature column in VeloNews magazine into his new book, Ask a Pro.

Aidan Ellis says:"Good, great humour and wit. But quite a bit of $10 a day"

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs

On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner at a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. The two had met five years before while Coyle was writing his best-selling book Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force. But this time, Tyler had something else on his mind. He finally wanted to come clean, about everything: the doping, the lying, his years as Lance Armstrong's teammate on U.S. Postal,, and his decade spent running from the truth. "I'm sorry," he told Coyle. "It just feels so good to be able to talk about this. I've been quiet for so many years."

A Life Without Limits

The amazing life story of Britain's world conquering triathlete, Chrissie Wellington. Chrissie Wellington is the world's No 1 female Ironman triathlete, the current quadruple World Champion and World Record holder. In 2009 she was voted 'Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year' and in 2010 was awarded the MBE. She is the undefeated champion of Triathlon, having won nine Ironman titles from nine races.

The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold: Adventures Along the Iron Curtain Trail

Scaling a new peak of rash overambition, Tim Moore tackles the 9,000 kilometer route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike. Asking for trouble and getting it, he sets off from the northernmost Norwegian-Russian border at the Arctic winter's brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless and massively subzero desolation of snowbound Finland.

Bernard Hinault and the Fall and Rise of French Cycling

Bernard Hinault is one of the greatest cyclists of all time. He is a five-time winner of the Tour de France and the only man to have won each of the Grand Tours on more than one occasion. Three decades on from his retirement, he remains the last Frenchman to win the Tour de France. His victory in 1985 marks the turning point when the nation who had dominated the first eight decades of the race they had invented suddenly found they were no longer able to win it.

Primal Endurance: Escape Chronic Cardio and Carbohydrate Dependency, and Become a Fat-Burning Beast!

Primal Endurance shakes up the status quo and challenges the overly stressful, ineffective conventional approach to endurance training. While marathons and triathlons are wildly popular and bring much gratification and camaraderie to the participants, the majority of athletes are too slow, continually tired, and carry too much body fat respective to the time they devote to training. The prevailing "chronic cardio" approach promotes carbohydrate dependency, overly stressful lifestyle patterns, and ultimately burnout.

The Obree Way: A Training Manual for Cyclists

With a bike, a turbo trainer, and the right advice, you can beat anyone. No one but Graeme Obree has the clarity of vision to get to the heart of the "problem" of how to improve as a racing cyclist. His innovative approach took him to the top of world cycling, twice breaking the world hour record - a story picked up in his Hollywood biopic The Flying Scotsman. It can draw the same outstanding athletic performance from you.

Bradley Wiggins: My Hour

For 60 minutes this summer, the British public stopped what they were doing, switched on their radios and their TVs, refreshed their Twitter feeds, and followed Bradley Wiggins' attempt to break one of sport's most gruelling records: The Hour. The premise is simple enough: how far can you cycle in one hour? But it is thought to be one of the toughest events an athlete can endure, both physically and psychologically. Eddy Merckx, cycling's über-champ, called it the hardest thing he ever did.

How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle

The greatest athletic performances spring from the mind, not the body. Elite athletes have known this for decades, and now science is learning why it's true. In his fascinating new book, How Bad Do You Want It?, coach Matt Fitzgerald examines more than a dozen pivotal races to discover the surprising ways elite athletes strengthen their mental toughness.

Publisher's Summary

Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder is an anthology of 30 articles written by an amateur cyclist over a period of 10 years. The collection exhibits the madness that engulfs those who descend into cycling obsession, celebrating the average cyclist living in a world defined by the pros. The writings range from fanciful musings concerning the Tao of singlespeeding to lengthy descriptions of end-to-end rides in Britain and Ireland. Mountain biking, road cycling and all sorts of other cycling events are chronicled along the way. Each is written in a lighthearted style designed to bring the reader into the author's world which is often littered with incident and humour. The listener will find a loose ticklist of events to ride, bikes to own and challenges to take on, each described in the author's own inimitable style.

If you cycle at any level you surly cant fail to relate to some if not all of the storys in this book. In essence its a collection of short story's written as blogs or magazine articles the author Dave, he has collated these story's and presented them in a flowing narrative that brings you into his obsessive world of cycling, Dave has in his self-deprecating way has produced a superb book which translates into audio perfectly as a very funny listen, its well narrated by Simon together they transport you to epic and sometimes grueling world of road sportive s, local and distant mountain bike rides, The Alps, the lakes, E2E to all-night rides, Singlespeeds, punchers and into the lives of the friends he meets on the way . I was going for a ride anyway but if I wasn't It would have inspired me to get out there!

This is a superb book, written by the guy that lives next door. Dave is a very funny man and one you would love to have a pint with after a cycle through the mud. Everything he writes you will relate to, from buying too many bikes (he has 9!), buying every shiny new thing for cycling that CRC comes up with to the roadie vrs mountie battle and the hook that gets you when you get on your bike and trash out the miles. If you have a mountain bike, a super lite carbon race bike or some old banger that you trash around the forest in then you will love this book. Very well read too with a real belief that it is Daves voice without the speed and accent. If he ever comes to Ireland I'd love to take him to our forests and show him the colour of our mud (no ... not like that you perverts!)

Listened to this book on a long drive to Aberdeen and found myself proper belly laughing on more than one occasion. Dave's rundown on the constant faff pre-ride ritual was spot on, and the inspiring anecdotes of his various outings has me itching to get some big rides in this year. Great book, a must read for any cyclist. Thanks Dave for making a long journey a very enjoyable one.

If like me you're a keen cyclist but don't take it as seriously as some of the more fiendish members of our tribe, then this book is for you.

I've read most of the better known titles many of you will know, Rendell, Walsh and that scoundrel Armstrong. All very good but all desperately serious.

Dave Barter regales us with tales of his two-wheeled expeditions in a brilliant, totally original style - for me something akin to a marriage of Bill Bryson (less factual) and the sort of off the cuff wit of the Inbetweeners (more anecdotal).

This would make a fantastic gift for anybody who heads off into the Irish or UK winter on a Sunday morning with only their lyrica to shield them from the elements.

I particularly liked the Malin to Mizen story and the incident with the Jack Russell and the white van.

Personal essays, mostly essay-length, about the author's travails as a late blooming cycling fanatic. These 'inner voice' stories are quite humorous, especially the author's ping-ponging between hubris and humiliation at the club rides. My favorite sections were the introduction, when the author makes the life-changing decision to get fit during an awkward elevator incident, and his ride of The Étape in France, a cyclo-sportive event in which amateurs may ride a Tour de France stage on the rest day during the 'real' Tour. In the essayist tradition, the best stories emerge when things go wrong, and the author has plenty of things go wrong. My one criticism - occasionally attitude gets the better of the author. For example, he makes a point to single out and mock fellow cycling essayist Elden, of Fat Cyclist blog. Why do that? The two are cut from the same chamois, so to speak, and Elden is a much beloved figure in cycling blogs. Still, this was great to listen to while trapped in the carpool wishing I were cycling.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Maciej

Kraków, Poland

24/12/12

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great one!"

What made the experience of listening to Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder the most enjoyable?

Outstanding voice of lector

What was one of the most memorable moments of Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder?

There are so many... :)

What does Simon Whistler bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

There is no "just read the book". This book is great :) And lector - he brought a quite new experience - as the book is very funny, than it's really very easy to spoil the reading if wrong lector is chosen. And Simon Whistler is just great!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes - the ending. It came so fast...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

ChargingDC

NY

17/08/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"A fun listen for any cyclist"

Although I love cycling (perhaps to the point of obsession) I do NOT love most cycling books. In fact, most are just boring and written from an elitist perspective. This one is different. The author offers a fresh perspective, complete with his infectious humor and self deprecating way. It was a very refreshing read and a must for anyone who loves cycling as much as I do.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Tomboysuze

Washington, DC

10/09/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Performance was odd"

I like the writing by Dave Barter, but Simon Whistler's performance was irritating. It sounds like he was on some sort of tranquilizer and made the book unpleasant to listen to. Very flat, boring reading that sounded as if he was sleep-talking. I didn't expect a lot of drama, but some pleasant pacing and inflection is a must. This performance was not my cup of tea.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Gary

11/08/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Light Hearted and Engaging"

Dave Barter compiles 30 articles from his cycling authorship that take the reader on light hearted journeys that are sure to leave you with a smile. From duplicating legendary stages of Le Tour de France to completing 2 attempts of Britain's most famous ride known as "The End to Ender" from Land's End to John O'Groat's. An avid mountain biker as well, Dave takes you on epic rides through Moab, Utah to the everyday experience of carving singletrack in Wilkshire. His seemingly endless supply of British wit and dry humor, coupled with his relatability to almost any average joe, make for a read almost any that have ever felt wind through hair while on two wheels sure to enjoy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Darren

28/04/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Cyclist Addicts Unite!"

Great format, loved the short stories. Written by a true cyclist, so many things I could relate to.

Chapeau!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Jeffrey Wright

07/03/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"If you're truly a cyclist you'll love this!"

A brilliant effort capturing the thoughts and adventures of a passionate cyclist. The narration was excellent and the content was truly entertaining.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

ketil vestby

23/02/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"fascinating series of humourous short stories"

A nice and likeable series of life from a cyclists viewpoint, brilliantly read.

Wish it was more stories like this..

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Loren

Bethesda, MD, United States

10/03/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Entertaining accounts of all types of cycling"

These are the collected stories of Dave Barter, an avid cyclist from the UK and read by another Brit. He started his cycling on a mountain bike and then branched out into road, cyclocross, touring, single speed, virtual commuting, and various other combinations. Obviously a pretty good amateur cyclist, he writes in a self deprecating manner that mostly seems truthful, particularly as it comes to his tendency to poorly prepare, or face an awful lot of pretty lousy weather. Of course, cycling almost year round in the UK, and also doing some lengthy tours, I guess there is no way to avoid some nasty weather.

As to whether others will enjoy this book, I should admit that I listened to 100% of this book while on my bike, either on my commute to/from work or on a weekend ride. And I also got back into riding on a mountain bike and have also gone to some of the places he visited, even though he rarely mentions his trips to places like Moab (the reader pronounces it Mobe) except a story about being stuck in Denver while trying to get out there for some riding. This actually gives a picture of the book, in that many of the stories involve humorous stories about trying to get to the ride or get the bike in shape, etc. I can't say it was a laugh-out-loud book, but there were many time when you could relate to the situations he describes.

He did some impressive rides, and clearly had some years when he trained hard for particular events, with a particular focus on riding up hills. So if you are a cyclist, there are some inspiring stories, particularly given that he covers so many different types of riding in places that most riders will never get a chance to visit. Hats off to his wife Helen as she has an unusual amount of patience, as cycling obviously took over his life--the title is pretty accurate.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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